My commitment to the 500 words challenge

In a way I’ve already been doing something like this. In fact, this challenge was the inspiration behind my earlier commitment to start writing regularly on this blog. But since the person behind this challenge is relaunching it for 2017, this seems like a good time to commit publicly to going through it.

You may be familiar with the work of Jeff Goins, a successful writer and teacher. Not only has he published bestsellers himself, but many of his students have gone on to become successful full-time writers.

A few years ago Goins came up with a challenge inspired by something that helped him become a successful blogger: commit to writing 500 words every day. The challenge runs for 31 days and is meant to help you build a habit of writing regularly.

The challenge officially kicks off tomorrow, but participants are encouraged to announce their commitment today, so that’s what I’m doing. I’ll actually be posting a bit more often, as I’d previously committed only to weekdays, while this challenge is for every day.

Also, to set myself up for success, I’ve actually scheduled time to do this. How many of us have said over and over again that we’ll get around to doing something but never take concrete steps to make it happen? In the beginning sometimes you have to make yourself do it a bit until you build the habit.

If you want to sign up for the challenge, you can do so here. It doesn’t cost anything, and you’ll get writing prompts and encouragement in your inbox every day. You don’t have to use the prompts if you don’t want to – the goal is just to write 500 words every day.

So, what do I plan to write about?

I’ll freely admit that the topics on this blog have been all over the place since I’ve started it back up. I haven’t been too bothered about it because at the time I started, I figured it was more important to start the habit of writing frequently and not worry about the details too much.

But now it’s time to find some focus.

It’s a massive stretch to say that every post I’ve written shares a theme, but I think most of them do, and that theme is personal transformation. I’m not claiming to be an expert on it in any way, but I’ve made significant progress and can talk about what has and hasn’t worked for me. Also, I think it can help for some people to see someone who isn’t famous or wealthy apply some of these principles and find out what happens. I’m trying out some new things in 2017, so I’ll share my experiences with that, too.

True, I’m not a great example of certain things, but that’s part of my point. When you expect perfection, it can turn into this all-or-nothing game that turns into an excuse for inaction. Yes, I’ve made mistakes in my journey. So will you if you try to do anything meaningful with your life. But I believe wholeheartedly that it is worth it to do what it takes to live an authentic, meaningful life. The specifics of that process will vary from person to person, but there are general principles that most people can apply. I look forward to discussing them here.

What are your experiences with personal transformation? Please share them in the comments!